1. Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to methods of manufacturing polymer electrodes and polymer actuators employing the polymer electrodes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Polymer actuators use a solid electroactive polymer (EAP) which has a fast response characteristic, a large displacement, and a small density as compared to a shape memory alloy (SMA) or an electroactive ceramic (EAC) that are materials used by other small actuators. Thus, research and development of polymer electrodes have been actively conducted. For example, a polymer actuator is able to operate with a thickness of tens of μm according to its application, and at a low voltage (for example, below 5 V), which is mainly problematic in a mobile device, and thus polymer actuators have a variety of applications such as in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), bio devices, energy yielding devices, etc, as well as actuators in auto-focusing and zooming units of camera modules.
Research into using polymer electrodes rather than using metal electrodes has been actively conducted. Polymer electrodes may be manufactured by printing and drying, for example, a conducting polymer solution in an electrode pattern through screen printing or inkjet printing.